Page 55 of Soulmates
Unlikely, but possible.
I cab it to the O Street address. The building is the same nineteenth-century vintage as the first offices, but this time, I need to flash my credentials before they’ll cooperate. I’d hoped to avoid doing that, but if advertising my M-status is what it takes to get David back, I’m in.
The security guard in the front hassles me about my weapon, so I end up flashing my badge before I’m through the door. I follow the signs to Randolph Collins’s office, bringing out my company smile when I’m stopped by his secretary. She’s older, her brassy black hair warring with the lines around her eyes and the soft skin of her jaw.
“I’m sorry, but Mr. Collins is in a meeting and can’t be disturbed.”
Of course he is.I pull out my badge a second time. “I understand he’s busy; however, I’m dealing with an emergency, and I need to talk to him now. Please notify him that Connor MacPherson, M17, is waiting.”
She punches a button, turning away as if she thinks I won’t be able to hear her conversation. Her tone is clipped and unforgiving. If she gets her way, I’m going to have to find another angle.
“Okay,” she says. “Yes, sir. Yes, sir.”
I’m readying my next pitch when she punches another button and the door gives an angry buzz.
“You can go through.” She’s obviously unhappy with the decision, but I smile politely and get moving. I didn’t really have another pitch, so I’m thankful this one worked.
I have mixed feelings about my job, in part because the Securitas have a reputation for high-handedness and secrecy. I might dislike beingthat guy,but given the situation, I intend to work that reputation for all it’s worth.
I knock on the door to Collins’s office, and at his gruff command, I enter. The American Were Authority Alpha is seated at a large wooden desk, an impressive setting for the man who oversees every were in the country. The office itself is dark and warm, the walls lined with bookcases, a console behind the desk covered with framed photographs. I catch a glimpse of a skinny, teenage David, but then his father clears his throat.
I blink, and his aura flares. Green for truth. Red for anger. Blue for sincerity. I fix the image in my mind so I’ll have something to compare with after I tell him about his son.
“This really is an inconvenience,” he says, arms crossed over his chest so I’ll know exactly how much trouble I’ve caused.
I start to apologize, then stop myself. I can’t afford to be intimidated by him. “Your son is missing, Mr. Collins, and I need to know if you’ve got any information regarding his whereabouts.”
He drops his arms, hands landing flat on the desk. “What? How can he be missing?” He’s dark and grizzled, the kind of man who needs to shave twice a day or face a permanent shadow. “He was supposed to meet with me today.”
“Yes, and I escorted him—”
“Why is the Securitas escorting my son anywhere?”
His aura flickers, the colors shifting, but without thesick yellow-green indicatingdeception.
I explain the eventsthat brought David to my attention, or at least a version of them. “This morning at just before eleven a.m., we went to a building on M Street. We were met by a receptionist David recognized. She brought him to your office, and when he failed to return, Iwent after him.”
“That makes no sense. Why would he go to my old offices?”
I judge his gruffness stems from fear rather than anger. The colors in his aura shift, but still there’s nothing to indicate he’s lying. “How often do you talk to your son?”
“I’ve been distracted. There was a were attack in Sarasota and a series of thefts that have disrupted our supply chain.” His grudging response tells me they talk about as often as I’d imagine a powerful man would want to talk to his rebellious child. I grill him on his knowledge of David’s habits, of his lifestyle, all the while wondering whether any of the Alpha’s distractions are connected to what’s happened to David.Or if he’s behind the whole thing and I just haven’t asked the right question yet.
“Yeah, I know about the gay thing.”Collins takes on the indulgent tone of a parent describing a toddler’s phase. “He’ll be ready to settle down after graduation, though. His fiancée is a lovely girl. She’ll straighten him out.”
I’m pretty sure Trajan doesn’t know about a fiancée. Thiskeeps getting better and better.
“Do he and his Uncle Brendan get along?”
Collins gives me a puzzled look. “Brendan holds David in high regard. He’s the one who suggested I hire a driver from Jacques Bettencourt for David’s vacation.”
There’s absolutely nothing suspicious in his aura.
“Brendan took the initiative to fly to Los Angeles, too, when he heard rumors that David was having trouble.”
Still nothing. “How did that meeting go?”
“Well.” He shifts in his seat, as if his patience is wearing thin. “Brendan said David convinced him that he’d be able to handle anything else that went on.”
